Saturday, June 06, 2009

Adel, who did not want his full name used because he was not authorized by his superiors to talk to the press, has just 15 men under his command and two Humvees at his disposal. There are plans to bolster his force with an additional 100 or so men, but they will be bringing only five additional Humvees.They will be filling the gap left by the 180 departing American soldiers and their 55 vehicles, as well as a mortar unit. The Iraqi soldiers are armed just with AK-47s and a handful of heavy machine guns."Their absence will leave a big hole," Adel said of the Americans. "They are leaving too early. We need another two to three years."U.S. troops won't be going far, and will still be on call to help out should the Iraqi security forces need them, said Army Lt. Col. John Vermeesch, who commands U.S. forces in northwest Baghdad.Though the smaller bases scattered through Baghdad will be closed, several bigger ones on the edges of the capital will remain. These troops on the outskirts will be available to help if asked.

The above is from Liz Sly's "Baghdad outpost eager to put boredom behind" (Los Angeles Times) and it's interesting that June 30th is when US troops are supposed to leave Iraq cities and major areas but now everyone's supposed to be happy with the occassional closing of an outpost.

In news of violence, Laith Hammoudi and Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing which claimed 1 life and left two people injured and a Ramadi suicide car bombing targeting Maj Gen Tariq al-Asal who was wounded ("superficial injury") in the bombing as were two police officers and, dropping back to Friday a Falluja roadside bombing which claimed 3 lives (1 was the brother of a Sahwa), a Kirkuk roadside bombing attack on Sahwa leader Khalaf Ibraheem (four people were wounded) and a Diyala Prvoince roadside bombing which claimed 2 lives and left two people injured. Xinhua adds on the Ramadi suicide car bombing, "Assal is one of the senior police officers who cooperates with the Sunni paramilitary groups of Awakening Councils in fighting the al-Qaida in Iraq network in Anbar province."

In political news, the Tehran Times reports Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, met with Hassan Kazemi Quomi, Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, about increasing the ties between the two countries.

Meanwhile Chandra Broadwater (Tampa Bay Times) reports that as Erika Piasecki was serving in Iraq an e-mail came in informing her that "a judge has signed an order removing her 12-year-old daughter from her home. One day Ashley was living with Erika's husband, Matt, the only father she had ever known. The next, she was handed over to a man, James Everson, who had never been part of her life. Everson is thought to be Ashley's biological father, but even that is not clear." As had been discussed and agreed to, Matt was in the process of adopting Ashley but, as soon as papers were filed and with Erika in Baghdad, James decided he didn't want the adoption to go through so James showed up at Ashley's school and took her home and Matt was informed the police couldn't do a thing about it. Broadwarter notes:

Erika said in an e-mail, "I get by, day by day, trying to keep myself busy so I don't have to think about what is happening. I know Matthew is home taking care of things the best that he can."

In other legal news, Melissa Grace (New York Daily News) reports Iraq War veteran Brandon Connelly was arrested for drunk driving and manslaughter after the death of Jamil Aljabal in the "three-care pile up" Connelly is alleged to be responsible for.

The young women of Baghdad acknowledge that there are more serious concerns in Iraq these days than hair, clothes and makeup.But they also say that there might be nothing quite as exhilarating as stepping out of the house in a pretty dress, hair flowing freely behind them, behaving as if their country had not been shattered by war and dominated by religious conservatism for much of their lives."For girls," said Merna Mazin, a 20-year-old Baghdad University engineering student, "life would be tasteless without elegant fashion."What Ms. Mazin calls elegant fashion bears little resemblance to couture or to the skin-baring summer street clothes of the West, of course.It was 104 degrees in Baghdad on a recent day, but Ms. Mazin was wearing a multicolored sleeveless dress over a pair of jeans. A long-sleeve black shirt covered her arms.Her black hair, with subtle blond highlights, was free of a head covering, however -- not a small victory for Ms. Mazin, a Christian who wore the traditional Muslim woman's head scarf for two years to avoid being singled out by Islamic militias.

The above is from Timothy Williams and Abeer Mohammed's "What Not to Wear, Baghdad-Style: Fashion Rules Begin to Change" which appears in today's New York Times. There's not a great deal to add to that story except to note that Baghdad is not Iraq, it is the heavily protected and occupied section of Iraq. Good luck to Mazin and may it spread throughout Iraq.

Patrick Hennessy (Telegraph of London) reports that with Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister, under attack and his cabinet revolting, he's finally decided to make a move on the inquiry into the Iraq War but any investigation determination "-- which coulld be potentially politically damaging for Tony Blair, Mr Brown and other senior Labour figures -- would still almost certainlly not be known until after the next general election, which must be held by early June 2010."

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died May 21 near Baghdad, Iraq of wound sustained when their unit was attacked by enemy forces using improvise explosive devices while on dismounted patrol.

Killed were:

Maj. Jason E. George, 38, of Tehachapi, Calif. He was an Army Reservist assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

1st Lt. Leevi K. Barnard, 28, of Mount Airy, N.C. He was a National Guardsman assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Staff Sgt. Paul F. Brooks, 34, of Joplin, Mo. He was a National Guardsman assigned to the 935th Aviation Support Battalion, Springfield, Missouri.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.

The Joplin Globe reports Paul Brooks "was honored during the funeral with the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and his second Army Commendation Medal. In addition, Brig. Gen. Stephen Danner read a proclamation by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, honoring Paul for his sacrifice."

Friday, June 05, 2009

Friday, July 5, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces more deaths, Iraqis are not impressed with Barry O's big speech, members of the US Congress call for the US Embassy in Baghdad to investigate the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community, and more.

The speech delivered by US President Barack Obama in Cairo yesterday was riddled with contradictions. He declared his opposition to the "killing of innocent men, women, and children," but defended the ongoing US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the US proxy war in Pakistan, while remaining silent on the most recent Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. These wars have killed at least one million Iraqis and tens of thousands in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories.

Obama declared his support for democracy, human rights and women's rights, after two days of meetings with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, two of the most notorious tyrants in the Middle East. He said nothing in his speech about the complete absence of democratic rights in Saudi Arabia, or about the ongoing repression under Mubarak's military dictatorship. In the days before the US president's arrival at Al-Azhar University, the campus was raided by Egyptian secret police who detained more than 200 foreign students. Before leaving on his Mideast trip, Obama praised Mubarak as a "steadfast ally."

While posturing as the advocate of universal peace and understanding, Obama diplomatically omitted any reference to his order to escalate the war in Afghanistan with the dispatch of an additional 17,000 US troops. And he tacitly embraced the policy of his predecessor in Iraq, declaring, "I believe the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein." He even seemed to hedge on the withdrawal deadline of December 2011 negotiated by the Bush administration, which he described as a pledge "to remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012."

Hillary Is 44 points out, "Murdered Iraqis who are gay were never mentioned. Gays and their oppression was not mentioned at all. Instead Obama quoted the 'Holy Koran' with the verse 'Be Conscious of God and speak always the truth.' Then Obama proceeded to avoid telling the truth." Stanley Heller (CounterPunch) also breaks down the Iraq section of the speech:

His speech in Cairo was the usual glittering generalities, the dropping of an Arabic word here and there, a sophisticated tone, and the pledge to tell "the truth." But look what he said about Iraq: "Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible." Though the war was controversial the Iraqis are "better off". Over a million dead from sanctions, invasions, and civil war, and Obama had the utter gal to declare the Iraqis "better off". Our only problem was not recruiting enough flunkies to join the effort. Some on the Left immediately declared that Obama remarks were a "denunciation" of the Iraq war. Keep on dreaming.

Diane Rehm: Alright let's talk about the latest violence in Iraq in light of the president's promise that all troops will be out of Iraq by --

Nancy A. Youssef: The end of 2011.

Diane Rehm: 2011. And isn't there a June 30 deadline this year as well?

Nancy A. Youssef: Yeah.

Diane Rehm: How was that received by Iraqis? This morning we heard that many don't believe that is going to happen, that all US troops are going to be out. And in the meantime you've got bombings still going on in Baghdad.

Nancy A. Youssef: Yeah. And let's -- the June 30th requires -- and this -- I want to make a distinction. Obama mentioned it in the speech but the truth is this was outlined under the Bush administration, under the Status Of Forces Agreement that they signed with the Iraqi government, I think in part, with the anticipation of Obama coming to the White House and wanting to, I think the Bush administration wanted to set the withdrawal on its terms and not on the Obama administration's terms and so the June 30th deadline is part of that. The Iraqi government demanded that all US troops be out of major cities. Now we're already starting to hear a little bit of a dance: Maybe on the outskirts of Sadr City they'll stay? Maybe in parts of Samarra they'll stay? Maybe in parts of Mosul where we're seeing violence this week -- a US soldier was killed in Mosul. We're seeing a little dance about how strict that's going to be. Remember that for the Iraqis this is also their domestic politics. They have an election coming up -- if not at the end of the year, in January. Maliki, the prime minister, cannot afford to have US troops in the face of his people anymore. They are tired. That all said, you are absolutely right. You ask Iraqis, they don't believe that the United States is ever leaving -- that they'll be a presence there for the rest of their lives. And in some capacity you have to think there would be in the sense that, you know when the US -- with each soldier that leaves is less US influence over the course of events in Iraq. You know to me the most dangerous thing going forward is not a quick collapse of the security situation in Iraq but a small one, a gradual one that happens as the United States is increasing its force presence in Afghanistan. That United States finds itself with say 100,000 troops in Iraq and 70,000 troops in Afghanistan and truly stuck in both conflicts. But you're right, you ask Iraqis, the United States is going to be there in some capacity. And this year is this game of security and domestic and even US politics.

With regards to the points Youssef was making on the dance that's going on, yesterday AP reported that the US military is hoping to keep "about 14 joint facilities [open] . . . after the deadline." Back to Iraqi reaction, Michael Slackman (New York Times) explains Barry O's speech was greeted in iraq by "a heavy dose of skepticism" and quotes diners in Mosul yelling "What a stupid speech!" Campbell Robertson and the Times Iraqi correspondents (New York Times' Baghdad Bureau) offer more reactions. In Najaf, Fadhil Mohammed states, "Obama's speech is nothing more than a way to paint a phony improved image about America for Islamic countries." In Falluja, Abu Adil states, "We've heard such nonsense from your former White House guys. We're overstuffed with such words." Yes, the speech the press can't stop creaming their panties and briefs over has been given many, many times before. Now when George W. Bush did that and the MSM treated it as new, CounterSpin would ridicule them for that. Today? CounterSpin's working for the man. But Aluf Been (Haaratz) points out some of the realities regarding Barry's 'words' on Palestinians and Israelies:

The United States has objected to the settlements since 1967, but its position has changed. The Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations stated that the settlements were illegal. Since the Reagan administration (1981), the U.S. has called the settlements "an obstacle to peace" without referring to their lawfulness. Former president George W. Bush agreed to Israeli construction in the large settlement blocs in exchange for Israel evacuating the settlers from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, and accepting the "two-state solution."

Rob Reynolds (Al Jazeera) noted The Changeling's shape shifting abilities, "Another thing struck me as distinctly political: Obama's constant references to his Muslim background, boyhood days in Indoensia, and frequent citations from the Quran sounded a bit odd coming from a man who made strenuous efforts to ignore those aspects of his autobiography in the 2008 campaign for the White House. In fact, Obama's campaign attacked critics who insisted on using his middle name; now, here was Barack Hussein Obama on stage in Cairo dropping a "shukran" (Arabic for "thank you" here) and an "assalaamu alaikum" (peace be unto you) there." Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller (ABC News) caught that shift on Tuesday: "Back then, the campaign's "Fight the Smears" website addressed the candidate's faith without mentioning his father's religion:

'Barack Obama is a committed Christian. He was sworn into the Senate on his family Bible. He has regularly attended church with his wife and daughters for years. But shameful, shadowy attackers have been lying about Barack's religion, claiming he is a Muslim instead of a committed Christian. When people fabricate stories about someone's faith to denigrate them politically, that's an attack on people of all faiths. Make sure everyone you know is aware of this deception'."

Though that's just appearing on the radar it's long been known that Iraq's LGBT community was being targeted. Jessica Green (UK's Pink News) reports that Iraqi LGBT is stating the Ministry of the Interior is part of the assault and quotes Ali Hili stating, "A police office from the Ministry of Interior Intelligence told us secretly that there is a campaign of murder and violence against gays. We had to pay him $5,000 US to help release one of our members from jail. With all the evidence we have been presenting, including some from one of our members who was recently released from pison, we have evidence of mass arrests [of LGBT Iraqis]. Still, the US is denying Iraqi government involvement, doing nothing to stop it and not assisting with our efforts to help gays in Iraq." Green also notes that US House Reps Jared Polis, Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank have requested in writing that US Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill investigate the charges. Polis has posted [PDF formart warning] the letter on his website and we'll jump in after the congratulations to Chris Hill on being confirmed as Ambassador:

As you know, since the fall of Saddam Hussein, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Iraqi citizens have become more susceptible to discrimination and violence. However, over the last month, we became aware of alarming human rights violations that fundamentally threaten the safety of LGBT citizens of Iraq. Both in the United States and Abroad, reports of the harrassment, detention and execution of LGBT Iraqi by Iraqi law enforcement have reached a fever pitch.

The information we received was derived from two separate testimonials of gay and transgender Iraqi men that were detained, tortured and sentenced to death for being members of an allegedly forbidden organization in Iraq called Iraqi LGBT. One of these individuals was able to escape, while the other was reportedly executed by Iraqi Ministry of Interior Security Forces. Through conversations with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Heartland Alliance, it has become clear to us that these are not isolated reports, but instead, reports that accurately portray an aggressive campaign to locate, arrest and execute LGBT Iraqis in and around Baghdad.

As LGBT Americans and co-chairs of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, we are disturbed and shocked at allegations that Ministry of the Interior Security Forces may be involved in the mass persecution and execution of LGBT Iraqis. As has been stated by the State Department, we are aware that LGBT Iraqis are not being officially executed or being held on death row in Iraq for being LGBT. However, the persecution of Iraqis based on sexual orientation or gender identity is escalating and is unacceptable regardless of whether these policies are extrajudicial or state-sanctioned.

We hope that by reaching out to you and members of your staff, that the U.S. Embassy in Iraq will prioritize the investigation of these allegations, work with the Iraqi government to end the executions of LGBT Iraqis, and make protecting this vulnerable community a priority. It is crucial that the United States government take action to address this urgent humanitarian crisis and examine the evidence provided by international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Heartland Alliance in Iraq. Given cultural sensitivity around these issues, it is also important that the U.S. Embassy work with human rights organizations to carefully ensure the safety of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Iraqis that may be afraid of reporting incidences to state authorities, particularly when those instances involve state authorities.

Please know that we will continue to monitor this situation and hope to be of assistance in your investigation. We wish you well in all of your endeavors as the newly confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.

The targeting of journalists in Iraq also continues. Earlier this week, another journalist lost his life, Alla' Abdul Al Wahab and others were wounded (one in the same attack, two in another attack). Reporters Without Borders declared, "It is time the slaughter of journalists in Iraq was stopped. The Iraqi authorities created a special police unit last year to investigate murders of journalists. We urge them to investigate these two bombings very thoroughly. Only conclusive results are likely to discourage these killers and improve the safety of journalists." Independent journalist Jeremy Scahill (writing at the US Socialist Worker) provides the walk through:

The U.S. bombed Al Jazeera in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, attacked it multiple times in the 2003 Iraq invasion, and killed Al Jazeera correspondent Tarek Ayoub. On April 8, 2003, a U.S. Abrams tank fired at the Palestine Hotel, home and office to more than 100 unembedded international journalists operating in Baghdad at the time. The shell smashed into the fifteenth-floor Reuters office, killing two cameramen, Reuters's Taras Protsyuk and José Couso of Spain's Telecinco. In a chilling statement at the end of that day in Iraq, then-Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke spelled out the Pentagon's policy on journalists not embedded with U.S. troops. She warned them that Baghdad "is not a safe place. You should not be there."

As I have reported previously, Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana was shot by U.S. forces near Abu Ghraib prison when his camera was allegedly mistaken for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The U.S. listed as "justified" the killing of Al Arabiya TV's Mazen al-Tumeizi, blown apart by a U.S. missile as he reported on a burning U.S. armored vehicle on Baghdad's Haifa Street.

There have also been several questionable killings of journalists at U.S. military checkpoints in Iraq, such as the March 2004 shooting deaths of Ali Abdel-Aziz and Ali al-Khatib of Al Arabiya. The Pentagon said the soldiers who shot the journalists acted within the "rules of engagement." And Reuters freelancer Dhia Najim was killed by U.S. fire while filming resistance fighters in November 2004. "We did kill him," an unnamed military official told the New York Times. "He was out with the bad guys. He was there with them, they attacked, and we fired back and hit him."

Jeremy Scahill will be a guest on Bill Moyers Journal tonight (check local listings -- online it provides video, audio and transcript -- accessible to all). Meanwhile Halliburton is in the news cycle. Guillermo Contreras (San Antonio Express-News) reports that "Robert Cain of San Marcos; Craig Henry of San Antonio; Francis Jaeger of Haltom City; David McMenomy of Lampasas; Mark Posz of San Antonio; and El Kevin Sar of Houston" have filed charges against Halliburton stating that "they were poisoned by toxins and emissions from burn pits at U.S. camps in Iraq and Afghanistan". Pratap Chatterjee (CorpWatch) reports on the War Profiteers of Halliburton:

The Houstonian Hotel is an elegant, secluded resort set on an 18-acre wooded oasis in the heart of downtown Houston. Two weeks ago, David Lesar, CEO of the once notorious energy services corporation Halliburton, spoke to some 100 shareholders and members of senior management gathered there at the company's annual meeting. All was remarkably staid as they celebrated Halliburton's $4 billion in operating profits in 2008, a striking 22% return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses. Analysts remain bullish on Halliburton's stock, reflecting a more general view that any company in the oil business is likely to have a profitable future in store.There were no protesters outside the meeting this year, nor the kind of national media stakeouts commonplace when Lesar addressed the same crew at the posh Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Houston in May 2004. Then, dozens of mounted police faced off against 300 protestors in the streets outside, while a San Francisco group that dubbed itself the Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane fielded activists in Bush and Cheney masks, offering fake $100 bills to passers-by in a mock protest against war profiteering. And don't forget the 25-foot inflatable pig there to mock shareholders. Local TV crews swarmed, a national crew from NBC flew in from New York, and reporters from the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal eagerly scribbled notes.Now the 25-foot pigs are gone and all is quiet on the western front. How did Halliburton, once branded the ugly stepchild of Dick Cheney -- the company's former CEO -- and a poster child of war profiteering, receive such absolution from anti-war activists and the media? Of course, the defeat of the Republicans in the 2008 U.S. election, the departure of the Bush administration, and a general apathy towards the ongoing, but lower-level war in Iraq are part of the answer. But don't ignore a potentially brilliant financial sleight of hand by Halliburton either. That move played a crucial role in the cleansing of the company.

KBR, Halliburton and the private security firm Blackwater have come tosymbolize the excesses of outsourcing warfare. So you'd think that witha new sheriff like Barack Obama in town, such practices would be on the"Things Not to Do" list. Not so. According to new Pentagon statistics, in the second quarter of thisyear, there has been a 23% increase in the number of private securitycontractors working for the Pentagon in Iraq and a 29% hike inAfghanistan. In fact, outside contractors now make up approximately halfof our forces fighting in the two countries. "This means," according toJeremy Scahill, author of the book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World'sMost Powerful Mercenary Army, "there are a whopping 242,647 contractorsworking on these two U.S. wars."Scahill, who runs an excellent new website called "Rebel Reports," spokewith my colleague Bill Moyers on the current edition of Bill MoyersJournal on PBS. "What we have seen happen, as a result of thisincredible reliance on private military contractors, is that the UnitedStates has created a new system for waging war," he said. By hiringforeign nationals as mercenaries, "You turn the entire world into yourrecruiting ground. You intricately link corporate profits to anescalation of warfare and make it profitable for companies toparticipate in your wars. "In the process of doing that you undermine US democratic policies. Andyou also violate the sovereignty of other nations, because you're makingtheir citizens combatants in a war to which their country is not aparty.

Today the US military announced: "AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq -- A Multi National Force -- West Marine died as the result of a non-combat rleated incident June 5. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense." And they announced: "CAMP VICTORY, BAGHDAD -- A Multi-National Corps -- Iraq Soldier died late last night of injuries received during a grenade attack on a patrol in the Diyala province of northern Iraq, June 4." These 2 announcements bring to 4311 the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War since it began in March 2003. In other violence today, Sahar Issa (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing which injured two people.

Turning to the US Kimberley Hefling (AP) reports on Chris Scheuerman whose son Jason died in Iraq. August 1, 2005, the DoD announced: "Pfc. Jason D. Scheuerman, 20, of Lynchburg, Va., died July 30 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. Scheuerman was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga." In December of 2007, AP reported that it took "well over a year" for his family to be informed Jason had left a note which read, "Maybe finaly I can get some peace." Hefling reports today that Chris Scheuerman is upset because the "Army Medical Command's inspector general's investigation, completed in November" states no policies were violated by the military use of "unlicensed psychologists in Iraq". Scheuerman should be upset and the country should be outraged. Unlicensed psychologists are not psychologists. You're five-year-old son or daughter is an unlicensed psychologist and about as qualified as any other unlicensed psychologist. The license serves a purpose, without the license, there's really no point in calling yourself a psychologist. The military yet again played it on the cheap and did so in the combat zone where no one could afford to 'play doctor'. They didn't take it seriously, they never did. Just like they still don't take PTSD seriously today -- though they know to give it lip service due to public outrage.

Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan doesn't just offer lip service, she offers action and she's preparing to face off against Bully Boy Bush in a matter of days. Cindy's currently on a speaking tour and these are some of the upcoming dates:

Cindy Sheehan will come to Dallas to protest crimes against humanity that occured during the Bush administration. According to Sheehan, "The actions of his administration are criminal and we need to keep up the pressure for accountability." To support Sheehan's effort, meet on the SW corner of Preston & Royal to join a march on the sidewalk west on Royal, south on Netherland, east on Meaders to the front of John J. Pershing Elementary School, across from Daria Dr. which leads to Bush's gated compound. No major streets will be crossed. Participants are asked to stay on message – the American people will not tolerate torture in our name, and those who have betrayed our trust must be held legally accountable.

Cindy Sheehan hosts the radio program Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox which airs each Sunday (and archives at link). June 16th she'll team up with singer-songwriter David Rovics for a luncheon at Ellendale's Restrauant (2739 Old Elm Hill Pike, Donelson, TN from one to three p.m.) sponsored by Nashville Peace and Justice Center (4732 Peace and Justice Center, 4732 West Longdale Drive, Nashville, TN 37211). This is a fundraiser, I believe, and for more on it contact Jerry Hader at jhharder@bellsouth.net who is with Nashville Peace and Justice Center. This Saturday in Michigan, the Green Party of Michigan will be rallying in Benton Harbort to Save Jean Klock Park and to Free Rev Edward Pinkney:

The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) will be leading a peaceful march to Jean Klock Park in Benton Harbon on Saturday, June 6. The march will leave from the Berrien County Courthouse (at 811 Port Street) at 3:30 pm. Members of Save Jeane Klock Park will be joining the march to protest the destruction of this section of Lake Michigan beachfront dunes and the theft of this pristine piece of nature from the people of Benton Harbor, to whom it was willed "in perpetuity"!

The march will also emphasize the need to free Reverend Edward Pinkney. An appeal hearing for the community activist will be held on Tuesday, June 9 by the Third District of the Michigan Court of Appeals (State Office Building; 350 Ottawa NW; Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2349; 616/456-1167). Rev Pickney and representatives of Save Jean Klock Park will be speaking at a public meeting before the march. This session, which is open to the media, will be held at Hopewall Baptist Church (756 Highland) starting at 2 pm.

Americans have a longstanding love affair with food—the modern supermarket has, on average, 47,000 products. But do we really know what goes into making the products we so eagerly consume?This week, David Brancaccio talks with filmmaker Robert Kenner, the director of "Food, Inc.," which takes a hard look at the secretive and surprising journey food takes on the way from processing plants to our dinner tables. The two discuss why contemporary food processing secrets are so closely guarded, their impact on our health, and another surprising fact: how consumers are actually empowered to make a difference.Find out why you'll never look at dinner the same way.

I really have to wonder about the above summary. It is not one that will make most say, "Honey, let's watch NOW!" The same topic with a 'find out what foods you should be serving' would be seen as instructive. The promo appears to have been written by someone whose responsibility for a meal never went beyond ordering at the drive through.

Gwen sits around the table for Washington Week (which begins airing on most PBS stations tonight) with New York Times' Helene Cooper, The Economist's Greg Ip and Gebe Martinez of the publication that should not speak its name. Yes, you read that right. Two female guests to one male guest. It's usually the other way around or three male guests to one woman. Also tonight on most PBS stations, Bonnie Erbe sits down with Heather Boushey, Amanda Carpenter, Avis Jones-DeWeever and Star Parker to discuss the week's news on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

The ChairmanIn a rare interview with a sitting Federal Reserve chairman – the first in 20 years – Ben Bernanke tells Scott Pelley what went wrong with America's financial system, how it caused the current economic crisis, what the Fed's doing to help fix it and when he expects the crippling recession to end. (This is a double length segment.) | Watch Video

DollyDolly Parton, the oh-so-country music superstar with the city-slicker sense of show business talks to Morley Safer about her childhood, her career and the Broadway production of her film, "9 to 5." | Watch Video

60 Minutes, Sunday, June 7, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Iraq Veterans Against the War is a group this community supports. I have friends who are members of IVAW. I mention that because two former members of IVAW have taken to e-mailing the public account for this site with smears about the organization. I dictated a response for today's snapshot but the snapshot is too long so the topic will be carried over to Third on Sunday. In the meantime, if someone's accusing IVAW of being controlled by some political party -- take a second to look at the ones accussing. What you will most likely see is Barack Obama supporters who attempted to whore out IVAW as a Barack Obama front group. That they were not allowed to do that upset them and they left. Now they're offering smears. IVAW has a diverse membership and anyone telling you otherwise should be suspect right there. Again, we'll carry it over to Third there's just no room today. But we will close with this from IVAW's Phil Aliff's "The red badge of courage" (US Socialist Worker):

When you cannot inflict casualties on the enemy, you learn that there are no limits to the level of human rage. It is the kind of rage that eats away at you. It is like a disease that tears you apart from the inside.

MILITARY VETERANS continue to carry this rage when we return home. When you are in Iraq, it is easy to justify shooting into a house or calling in mortars on a palm grove. But when you return home, you can't fire a machine gun at someone who cuts you off on the highway.

This feeling of vulnerability drives a veteran mad. We pack up our civility to prepare for combat. Everyone at home carries their socially accepted morals, while we throw them out the window to justify killing someone for nothing. We were taught how to pack our morals away, but we were never given directions for unpacking them.

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq-- A Multi National Force --- West Marine died as the result of a non-combat related incident June 5.

The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official Web site at http://www.defenselink.mil/. The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member’s primary next of kin.

Multi-National Corps – IraqCAMP VICTORY, BAGHDAD – A Multi-National Corps – Iraq Soldier died late last night of injuries received during a grenade attack on a patrol in the Diyala province of northern Iraq, June 4.The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.The names of service members are announced through the U.S. Department of Defense official Web site at http://www.defenselink.mil/. The announcements are made on the Web site no earlier than 24 hours after notification of the service member’s primary next of kin.

These 2 announcements bring to 4311 the number of US service members killed in the Iraq War since it began in March 2003.

The light is fading from the dusty Baghdad sky as Hassan Mahsan re-enacts what happened to his family last summer. We're standing in the courtyard of his concrete-block house, his children are watching us quietly and his wife is twirling large circles of dough and slapping them against the inside walls of a roaring oven. He walks over to his three-foot-tall daughter and grabs her head like a melon. As she stands there, he gestures wildly behind her, pretending to tie up her hands, then pretending to point a rifle at her head. "They took the blindfold off me, pointed the gun at her head and cocked it, saying, 'Either you tell us where al-Zaydawi is, or we kill your daughter.'""They just marched into our house and took whatever they wanted," Hassan's mother says, peeking out the kitchen door. "I've never seen anyone act like this."As Hassan tells it, it was a quiet night on June 10, 2008, in Sadr City, Baghdad's poor Shiite district of more than 2 million people, when the helicopter appeared over his house and the front door exploded, nearly burning his sleeping youngest son. Before Hassan knew it, he was on the ground, hands bound and a bag over his head, with eight men pointing rifles at him, locked and loaded.At first he couldn't tell whether the men were Iraqis or Americans. He says he identified himself as a police sergeant, offering his ID before they took his pistol and knocked him to the ground. The men didn't move like any Iraqi forces he'd ever seen. They looked and spoke like his countrymen, but they were wearing American-style uniforms and carrying American weapons with night-vision scopes. They accused him of being a commander in the local militia, the Mahdi Army, before they dragged him off, telling his wife he was "finished." But before they left, they identified themselves. "We are the Special Forces. The dirty brigade," Hassan recalls them saying.The Iraq Special Operations Forces (ISOF) is probably the largest special forces outfit ever built by the United States, and it is free of many of the controls that most governments employ to rein in such lethal forces. The project started in the deserts of Jordan just after the Americans took Baghdad in April 2003. There, the US Army's Special Forces, or Green Berets, trained mostly 18-year-old Iraqis with no prior military experience. The resulting brigade was a Green Beret's dream come true: a deadly, elite, covert unit, fully fitted with American equipment, that would operate for years under US command and be unaccountable to Iraqi ministries and the normal political process.

The above is the opening to Shane Bauer's "Iraq’s New Death Squad" (New American Media). It's sad but not surprising that readers of daily newspapers in the US can't find articles like the above in the newspapers they pay for, the newspapers which allegedly inform them. It's even sadder that they can rarely find Iraq in the paper, the site of a six-years-and-counting war. At the New York Times' Iraq blog, readers can find Campbell Robertson's "Iraqi Reaction to President Obama’s Speech:"

But most people in Iraq, a country that has been exhaustively condemned, extolled, grieved over and celebrated by a succession of American presidents, seemed unimpressed.As the president was making what the Western media described as an historic speech in Cairo, it was the sweltering lunchtime hour here in Iraq. The televisions in almost all the cafes were turned to sports or movies, or the usual background din of Arab music videos. When a man at a restaurant in Mosul tried to change the channel to the speech, diners shouted at him angrily: "What a stupid speech!"Before the speech, Iraqi politicians expressed opinions ranging from skepticism to resentment. "Obama's visit to Egypt is just like his other visits, with the ringing speeches," said Fawzi Akrem, a parliament member who belongs to the party of the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. "His desperate and miserable speeches will not change the Islamic and Arab world's way of dealing with Israel and America, and it will not help to turn a new page."

That's the opening and it's more powerful than the two brief paragraphs in Michael Slackman's article which does make the paper (see previous entry). Some important subjects the New York Times refuses to cover, others they hide on their website and refuse to publish in their papers.

Kimberley Hefling (AP) reports on Chris Scheuerman whose son Jason died in Iraq. August 1, 2005, the DoD announced: "Pfc. Jason D. Scheuerman, 20, of Lynchburg, Va., died July 30 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. Scheuerman was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga." In December of 2007, AP reported that it took "well over a year" for his family to be informed Jason had left a note which read, "Maybe finaly I can get some peace." Hefling reports today that Chris Scheuerman is upset because the "Army Medical Command's inspector general's investigation, completed in November" states no policies were violated by the military use of "unlicensed psychologists in Iraq". Scheuerman should be upset and the country should be outraged.

Unlicense psychologists are not psychologists. You're five-year-old son or daughter is an unlicensed psychologist and about as qualified as any other unlicensed psychologist. The license serves a purpose, without the license, there's really no point in calling yourself a psychologist.

The military yet again played it on the cheap and did so in the combat zone where no one could afford to 'play doctor'. They didn't take it seriously, they never did. Just like they still don't take PTSD seriously today -- though they know to give it lip service due to public outrage.

Chris Scheuerman is right to be outraged. Everyone should be outraged. The military brass should be hauled in front of Congress to explain who okayed that policy and to assure that it's no longer in place as well as to outline the punishments that will fall should it happen again. It's too late for Jason Scheuerman and his father knows that. This isn't about bringing his son back, it's about justice and accountability in order to protect other service members.

Turning to PBS, Bill Moyers Journal features Jeremy Scahill and that's all we'll note (we won't waste our time on an 'analyst' who never thought to raise the issue of the sexism in the 2008 campaign so the idea that she'll 'search behind' the headlines is laughable). Bill Moyers latest installment begins airing tonight on most PBS stations (check local listings) as does NOW on PBS:

Americans have a longstanding love affair with food—the modern supermarket has, on average, 47,000 products. But do we really know what goes into making the products we so eagerly consume?This week, David Brancaccio talks with filmmaker Robert Kenner, the director of "Food, Inc.," which takes a hard look at the secretive and surprising journey food takes on the way from processing plants to our dinner tables. The two discuss why contemporary food processing secrets are so closely guarded, their impact on our health, and another surprising fact: how consumers are actually empowered to make a difference.Find out why you'll never look at dinner the same way.

I really have to wonder about the above summary. It is not one that will make most say, "Honey, let's watch NOW!" The same topic with a 'find out what foods you should be serving' would be seen as instructive. The promo appears to have been written by someone whose responsibility for a meal never went beyond ordering at the drive through.

Gwen sits around the table for Washington Week (which begins airing on most PBS stations tonight) with New York Times' Helene Cooper, The Economist's Greg Ip and Gebe Martinez of the publication that should not speak its name. Yes, you read that right. Two female guests to one male guest. It's usually the other way around or three male guests to one woman. Also tonight on most PBS stations, Bonnie Erbe sits down with Heather Boushey, Amanda Carpenter, Avis Jones-DeWeever and Star Parker to discuss the week's news on PBS' To The Contrary. Check local listings. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:

The Chairman In a rare interview with a sitting Federal Reserve chairman – the first in 20 years – Ben Bernanke tells Scott Pelley what went wrong with America's financial system, how it caused the current economic crisis, what the Fed's doing to help fix it and when he expects the crippling recession to end. (This is a double length segment.) | Watch Video

Dolly Dolly Parton, the oh-so-country music superstar with the city-slicker sense of show business talks to Morley Safer about her childhood, her career and the Broadway production of her film, "9 to 5." | Watch Video60 Minutes, Sunday, June 7, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Public radio. NPR's Diane Rehm Show features Juan Williams (NPR, Fox), Byron York (Washington Examiner) and Sheryl Gay Stolberg (New York Times) for the first hour (domestic) and Moises Naim (Foreign Policy), Michael Shear (Washington Post) and Nancy A. Youssef (McClatchy Newspapers) for the second hour (international). This is Youssef's first appearance on Rehm's show since publishing her report that Nouri al-Maliki went ballistic over the torture photos so that may come up during the broadcast (or not but it let us work in another link, didn't it?). The Diane Rehm Show begins broadcasting on most NPR stations at 10:00 a.m. EST (check local stations) and it begins streaming at that time online.

Yesterday the Veterans Administration sent their Chief Officer of Patient Care Services Dr. Madhulika Agarwal to offer Congressional testimony to the House Veterans Affairs Committee's Subcomittee on Health. It wasn't a pretty sight. Reading from a prepared statement, Agarwal seemed stiff, uninformed and as though she was hiding something. In order to answer a basic question from Ranking Member Henry Brown, the doctor -- who is over the VA's patient care -- had to resort to repeated stolen glances at a cheat sheet before her.

US House Rep Brown asked her, "We've heard testimony that access to resources and information for family care-givers is highly variable and there's not any standardized and ongoing training of any formal support network. How would you respond to those concerns?"

Someone doing their job wouldn't appear to need a cheat sheet to answer the question. Someone doing their job.

"Um. Thank you for the question, sir," Dr. Madhulika Agarwal began her response while playing with the mike in what appeared to be an attempt to eat up time. "Um. We certainly are making efforts in doing better outreach about our programs. We've had an initiative known as the Combat Call Center Initiative which was instituted by Secretary [James] Peake last year which reached out to about 1600 veterans who were identified in the seriously ill category during the transition process and were given information on our current program -- particularly about the care management -- case management programs and other services and also offered services at that time. The Federal Recovery Program, again, for the seriously injured veterans . . . this resource . . . has been . . . really . . . I think amplifying in helping us with . . . navigating between the VA, the DoD as well as the private sector. They have a resource directory. Which I think is a useful resource for the care-givers and the families. We have a set of liasons in the military treatment facilities and a case management system which is very knowledgable about the programs that we offer uhm. And we are working to improve and align our outreach through the internet, intranet and MyHealth.web."

HERNDON, Virginia -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected EDS to provide outbound calling services and inbound callback support to facilitate the Combat Veteran Call Center outreach and education campaign to make combat veterans more aware of health care services and benefits available from the VA. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.The Combat Veteran Call Center will increase awareness of the extension of health care and benefits eligibility for veterans of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the first task order awarded under the General Services Administration’s $2.5 billion USA Contact contract vehicle.Calls to veterans began on May 1 and will reach out to nearly 570,000 recent wartime veterans over the next six months. Initially, the campaign will focus on about 17,000 veterans who, based on their wartime injuries or illnesses, are considered candidates for care management. During the second phase, about 550,000 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans who have not yet enrolled for VA health care services will be contacted."The Department of Veterans Affairs works hard to provide high quality, prompt and seamless service to veterans," said Don Picard, EDS vice president of federal healthcare. "We look forward to supporting VA employees as they deliver vital services to those who have served our country in its battle against terrorism."EDS will support the VA's education and outreach campaign through the Combat Veteran Call Center by providing the necessary facilities, staff, equipment, supplies and services. The company’s phone representatives will make initial calls to veterans, interview them to assess their needs, and send information about available VA health care services and benefits. In addition, EDS callers will follow-up with the veteran to ensure their needs are met."EDS is committed to supporting the VA's mission to educate and inform veterans of the range of benefits to which they are entitled," said Dennis Stolkey, vice president and general manager, EDS U.S. Government and Public Sector. "It is extremely important to support these men and women who have sacrificed so much for their country."

Did EDS do their job?

Since there have been no outcries, one might guess they did; however, according to the testimony offered by the doctor in yesterday's hearing, they didn't do their job.

Dr. Madhulika Agarwal stated, "We've had an initiative known as the Combat Call Center Initiative which was instituted by Secretary [James] Peake last year which reached out to about 1600 veterans who were identified in the seriously ill category during the transition process and were given information on our current program -- particularly about the care management -- case management programs and other services and also offered services at that time." EDS promised, "Calls to veterans began on May 1 and will reach out to nearly 570,000 recent wartime veterans over the next six months. Initially, the campaign will focus on about 17,000 veterans who, based on their wartime injuries or illnesses, are considered candidates for care management. During the second phase, about 550,000 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans who have not yet enrolled for VA health care services will be contacted." According to Agarwal's testimony, the second phase never took place.

Did EDS waste government money? Did it fail to complete its project?

At this point, Agarwal is the only one whose made a statement for the public record. Her statements and her delivery of them were questionable at best.

The Committee should have asked her to explain her remarks. Most likely, she would not have been able to do so in the hearing. She merely read from a prepared cheat sheet (even when 'answering' questions). The issue is most likely not EDS but Agarwal who is unable to speak to the Congress about what she allegedly supervises and overseas as an employee of the VA.

We'll close this out by again noting her appalling response regarding a resource for injured veterans and their families.

US House Rep Henry Brown: So you basically have a website that has these services which are available --

Dr. Madhulika Agarwal (overlapping): We're currently working on that

US House Rep Henry Brown: -- and how to get those resources?

Dr. Madhulika Agarwal: We are working on it, sir. It's in -- it's in development phase.

Over six years into the illegal war in Iraq, nearly eight years into the Afghanistan War and Agarwal states a needed and very simple web page is "in development phase."

The Houstonian Hotel is an elegant, secluded resort set on an 18-acre wooded oasis in the heart of downtown Houston. Two weeks ago, David Lesar, CEO of the once notorious energy services corporation Halliburton, spoke to some 100 shareholders and members of senior management gathered there at the company's annual meeting. All was remarkably staid as they celebrated Halliburton's $4 billion in operating profits in 2008, a striking 22% return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses. Analysts remain bullish on Halliburton's stock, reflecting a more general view that any company in the oil business is likely to have a profitable future in store.There were no protesters outside the meeting this year, nor the kind of national media stakeouts commonplace when Lesar addressed the same crew at the posh Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Houston in May 2004. Then, dozens of mounted police faced off against 300 protestors in the streets outside, while a San Francisco group that dubbed itself the Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane fielded activists in Bush and Cheney masks, offering fake $100 bills to passers-by in a mock protest against war profiteering. And don't forget the 25-foot inflatable pig there to mock shareholders. Local TV crews swarmed, a national crew from NBC flew in from New York, and reporters from the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal eagerly scribbled notes.Now the 25-foot pigs are gone and all is quiet on the western front. How did Halliburton, once branded the ugly stepchild of Dick Cheney -- the company's former CEO -- and a poster child of war profiteering, receive such absolution from anti-war activists and the media? Of course, the defeat of the Republicans in the 2008 U.S. election, the departure of the Bush administration, and a general apathy towards the ongoing, but lower-level war in Iraq are part of the answer. But don't ignore a potentially brilliant financial sleight of hand by Halliburton either. That move played a crucial role in the cleansing of the company.

Halliburton is in the news cycle. Guillermo Contreras (San Antonio Express-News) reports that "Robert Cain of San Marcos; Craig Henry of San Antonio; Francis Jaeger of Haltom City; David McMenomy of Lampasas; Mark Posz of San Antonio; and El Kevin Sar of Houston" have filed charges against Halliburton stating that "they were poisoned by toxins and emissions from burn pits at U.S. camps in Iraq and Afghanistan".

In Iraq, after six years of occupation, missed opportunities and failed promises, there was a heavy dose of skepticism.In cafes and restaurants, televisions were turned to sports or movies or blared music videos. When a man at a restaurant in Mosul tried to change the channel to the speech, diners shouted at him, "What a stupid speech!" In the Shorooq restaurant in Karbala, a small crowd heckled Mr. Obama as he spoke about Israel. "The most important thing is to accomplish things, not just say them," said Alaa Sahib Abdullah, a 30-year-old lawyer.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

The Prophet of Islam teaches us to be kind to all people, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. “You shall not win the hearts of men with your money, but with kind manners you can,” he said.Yet, symbolism alone is not enough, and Muslims in general had bitter memories of symbolic gestures coming from western powers.Two centuries ago, Napoleon , who had just invaded Egypt, sought to endear himself to ordinary Egyptians. He issued proclamations casting himself as a great liberator of the people from Mamluk oppression, and praising the precepts of Islam.

Another thing struck me as distinctly political: Obama's constant references to his Muslim background, boyhood days in Indonesia, and frequent citations from the Quran sounded a bit odd coming from a man who made strenuous efforts to ignore those aspects of his autobiography in the 2008 campaign for the White House.In fact, Obama's campaign attacked critics who insisted on using his middle name; now, here was Barack Hussein Obama on stage in Cairo dropping a "shukran" (Arabic for "thank you" here) and an "assalaamu alaikum" (peace be unto you) there.Aluf Been (Haaratz) zooms in on the issue of Palestine to point out:

The United States has objected to the settlements since 1967, but its position has changed. The Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations stated that the settlements were illegal. Since the Reagan administration (1981), the U.S. has called the settlements "an obstacle to peace" without referring to their lawfulness. Former president George W. Bush agreed to Israeli construction in the large settlement blocs in exchange for Israel evacuating the settlers from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, and accepting the "two-state solution."

He goes on that Bully Boy Bush stated he wanted an end to "the occupation that began in 1967" -- translation, as with Barack First Ever To Want To Ban Nukes!, it turns out Barack's statements were similar to . . . oh, every other president in the US.

We're focusing on the bad speech because there were two e-mailing the public account insisting I was wrong about Barry O's speech, and golly, he mentioned Muslims in American later on. I read the entire speech. The sections the two e-mailers are pointing two are the sections which play like Muslims aren't Americans and you have to wonder why that is? You have to wonder why Barry O went to another country and starts talking about Muslims being persecuted in the US (that's what he's saying and his audience grapsed that). Muslism, by Barack's structure in the speech, are under attack in the US. And if you can't grasp it, you're not paying attention because what they supposedly had to sue for (I'm aware of no such lawsuits with the exception of a woman in a burqa suing the DMV in Florida) goes to the core of the culture he was attempting to speak to.

Now they may or may not be under attack in the US. I think very few could argue that they weren't under attack following 2001 to well into 2003. Under direct attack. 2004 being an election year and a lot of big money from some Muslims having gone to the GOP meant it had to be toned down a bit. But Muslims have been in the US since long before 9-11. Muslims are Americans and instead of making that statement -- one you could, for example, very easily hear Jimmy Carter make -- Barry did his usual "I'm so special dance! Love me, love me!" No. You go overseas as the president then you're representing the US and these little efforts of his to make himself come off better while spitting on the country are not playing well. His personal popularity does not help the US. When Bully Boy Bush was deservedly detested around the world, most people were smart enough to draw a line between Bush and the American people. It works both ways.

So when he goes on a trip and says, as he did on his last Not So Excellent Adventure, don't-blame-me-I-was-just-a-kid, he may get a laugh but any smart student of international relations grasps very quickly that he's reinforcing stereotypes of the US to advance himself -- as different from -- and other than -- the US.

We could talk about how he wanted to appear to Western audiences as if he was defending women's rights. He was doing no such thing and the listeners were damn well aware of it. As was Barry who grew up in a Muslim country -- and now that he brags about that, presumably we can all note it without a bunch of childish name calling?

He went to a culture that is seen as sexist and he what? Glorified the drunken father who already had one wife before he hooked up with Barack's mother (no, they were not legally married the US does not recognize bigamy). He glorified the father who abandoned him. The drunkard who died broke and a public embarrassment. (The one he once lied and swore was "a goat herder".) The mother who raised him for most of his childhood? The mother who raised his half-sister? The mother who accomplished something with her life?

She was no where to be found.

Now when he wanted to get votes from White voters, he couldn't stop using Ann. And in the primaries, the harder the campaign thought that would be, the more they ran the Ann-died-of-cancer commercials which showed White Ann lifting Barry in the air and never made any mention of his father. It was a lot like his going to Kansas while running for the president. He'd never felt the need to see Kansas before. After his father was dead for some time, Barack decided to see Kenya and off he went. But there he was telling the press Kansas was his home to him and blah, blah, blah. When Jeremiah Wright's craziness got to be too much, it was time for Barack to bring up "my White grandmother."

He's the changeling. And he'll cater to whatever audience. That's well and good if he's just a motivational speaker but he's the president of the United States and it's past time that he grasped he represent the country when he goes overseas. He's not supposed to be advancing himself by degrading the country. Crap like ha-ha-don't-blame-me-I-wasn't-born would be boorish to most from B-list male celebrity in Cannes. Coming from the president of the United States, it's insulting.

Barack never learned how to work with others. He never learned how to share the spotlight. He never learned not to be caught pouting when someone else captured the spotlight (which is why there are so many photos from the last year and half that people can point to and laugh at).

Who is Barack Hussein Obama? The world still doesn't know and the main reason for that is because Barack Obama doesn't know who he is. That's the danger of being a changeling. You can end up tricking even yourself and he lost his handle on himself at 15 and has never regained it. Sadly, this is who the bulk of Americans who voted chose to put into the White House.

If the alleged left 'leaders' had any brains, they'd start denying him love and praise because his vanity is possibly the only ammunition the left has to use against him as he proceeds to continue all of Bully Boy Bush's wars and then some.

He wants credit for what he once termed the 'oikey-doke'. He tossed out a few bland words about women's rights (that some pigs online -- I'm referring to the over 60 set, male contingent) thought were amazing. They were a highly watered down version of what Hillary said over a decade ago. But by glorifying the father, as he did, and denying the mother, as he did, he fed right into the sexist aspect of the culture his cheerleaders insist he was calling out. Barry knew what he was doing.

"That is why we will honor our agreement with Iraq's democratically-elected government to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July, and to remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012," he declared. By the end of June, Barry, all US forces are supposed to be out of Iraqi cities and major towns. But we know that they won't be. They won't be out of Mosul (they'll be on the bordering base), they won't be out of Baghdad and they may not be out of Tikrit. In addition, AP reports today that they're hoping to keep "about 14 joint facilities [open] . . . after the deadline."

"Pretty lies, just pretty lies," as Joni Mitchell once sang ("The Last Time I Saw Richard," Blue). And not touched on by anyone . . . yet . . . is that it was basically the Jeremiah Wright speech he gave last year. The one where he couldn't turn his back on Wright. Not the speech weeks later where he could turn his back on Wright. It was that same speech where he equated things that were not equal (there is no equal to the racism against African-Americans in the US historically with any thing aimed at the White culture in the US during the same period). He did the same thing in his Cairo speech and a few grasp that but don't grasp that it's the false equation or that it's the same equation he's offered in every damn speech -- it was also present in his 2004 DNC speech. If you're historically ignorant and won over by pretty words with no meaning, you'd think someone wrote an amazing speech.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
This also applies to anyone writing to complain about a friend of mine. That's not why the public account exists.